Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Pique

Pique (pēk), n. (Zoöl.) The jigger. See Jigger.

Pique (pēk), n. [F., fr. piquer. See Pike.] 1. A feeling of hurt, vexation, or resentment, awakened by a social slight or injury; irritation of the feelings, as through wounded pride; stinging vexation.

Men take up piques and displeasures. Dr. H. More.

Wars had arisen . . . upon a personal pique. De Quincey.

2. Keenly felt desire; a longing.

Though it have the pique, and long, 'Tis still for something in the wrong. Hudibras.

3. (Card Playing) In piquet, the right of the elder hand to count thirty in hand, or to play before the adversary counts one.

Syn. — Displeasure; irritation; grudge; spite. Pique, Spite, Grudge. Pique denotes a quick and often transient sense of resentment for some supposed neglect or injury, but it is not marked by malevolence. Spite is a stronger term, denoting settled ill will or malice, with a desire to injure, as the result of extreme irritation. Grudge goes still further, denoting cherished and secret enmity, with an unforgiving spirit. A pique is usually of recent date; a grudge is that which has long subsisted; spite implies a disposition to cross or vex others.

Pique, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Piqued; p. pr. & vb. n. Piquing.] [F. piquer. See Pike.] 1. To wound the pride of; to sting; to nettle; to irritate; to fret; to offend; to excite to anger.

Pique her, and soothe in turn. Byron.

2. To excite to action by causing resentment or jealousy; to stimulate; to prick; as, to pique ambition, or curiosity. Prior.

3. To pride or value; — used reflexively.

Men . . . pique themselves upon their skill. Locke.

Syn. — To offend; displease; irritate; provoke; fret; nettle; sting; goad; stimulate.

Pique, v. i. To cause annoyance or irritation. "Every verse hath something in it that piques." Tatler.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.